Tobacco Scented Whiskey Caramel Truffles

Friends of ours have just recently opened a restaurant called Big Tobacco Kitchen & Whiskey Bar in Hamilton, Ontario. The “Big Tobacco Kitchen” gets its name because the menu draws from the childhood experiences of the owner, who grew up on a tobacco farm in Norfolk county. Megan and I thought it would be cool to make them a Christmas gift that was inspired by the story of their new restaurant.

Whiskey Caramel Truffles (makes roughly 22 truffles)

33g light corn syrup
44g sugar (1)
80g 35%
22g butter

55g sugar (2)

20g whiskey

1. In a sauce pan, heat corn syrup, sugar (1), 35% heavy cream and butter and bring it to a boil
2. In a separate pan, caramelize the sugar (2) until desired colour is reached
3. Slowly pour in cream mixture
4. Cook until 107°C
5. Stir in whiskey, and let it cool to room temperature
6. Once cool, pipe caramel in truffle shells
7. Using tempered chocolate, cap the truffles by adding a little bit of chocolate to seal the opening
8. Roll truffles in tempered chocolate, then cocoa powder

From a Francisco Migoya class last October, I learned about aromatizing truffles with the scent of tobacco to give a light hint of the fragrance without directly adding any tobacco to the truffles. In this instance, the truffles are left in a bed of tobacco and over the course of several weeks, the truffles with gain a light tobacco aroma.